The indictment was dismissed in January by District Court Judge Gary Lancaster, who said the government could not interfere in the viewing of obscene materials by individuals in the privacy of their own home. This right extended to the distribution of obscene materials, said the Judge.
Judge Lancaster wrote: "the federal obscenity statutes violate the constitutional guarantees of personal liberty and privacy of consenting adults who wish to view the defendants' films in private."
"Public morality is not a legitimate state interest sufficient to justify infringing on adult, private, consensual, sexual conduct even if that conduct is deemed offensive to the general public's sense of morality," he added.
According to the indictment, Extreme Associates and its two directors, husband and wife team Robert Zicari and Janet Romano, offered obscene materials for sale over their web site. Customers could purchase videos or pay to download video clips.
Extreme Associates bills itself as a hard core porn site, featuring films containing simulated gang rapes, beatings and violent attacks on women.
The company and its owners were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 6th Aug 2003, on one count of conspiracy to distribute obscene materials, three counts of mailing obscene films, and six counts of transmitting obscene material over the internet.
Last month, however, Judge Lancaster dismissed the indictment in a ruling that the Department of Justice believes, if upheld, would undermine not only the federal obscenity laws, but all laws based on shared views of public morality, including laws against prostitution, bestiality and bigamy.
"The Department of Justice places a premium on the First Amendment right to free speech, but certain activities do not fall within those protections, such as selling or distributing obscene materials," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "The Department of Justice remains strongly committed to the investigation and prosecution of adult obscenity cases."